MINNEAPOLIS – It is rather easy to break the ice, at least in one sense, with locals playing host this week to America’s football finale. Just ask about the elements.What’s your most distinctive cold-weather memory?“The day I moved here,” Abraham Issa declared. “I was freezing my ass off! It was 25-below.”Issa, a Bloomington, Minn., resident who mans a booth at the Mall of America, transplanted from Fairfax County, Va., a month ago – smack dab in the middle of a patented cold snap. More: Eagles' Lane Johnson is not your average offensive lineman More: WEEI offered up plenty for Tom Brady to be offended by before they went after his daughter More: Which NFL franchises never to have won Super Bowl are closest to title breakthrough? See, everybody has a story. And their memories are seemingly so precise when it comes to the details. One woman recalled that it was -24 degrees in 2014 when her favorite taco shop remained open while virtually the rest of St. Paul was shut down, so she schlepped three blocks for food. Another woman noticed the thermometer at -18 when she hopped in her car – inside her garage.Larry Fitzgerald, Sr., father of the Arizona Cardinals star receiver who grew up here, will never forget the first time he missed one of his son’s games: An overnight storm dumped 16 inches of snow, and he couldn’t make it to the airport for an 8 a.m. flight.“There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned winter storm,” said Shannon McCormick, a self-described “hockey mom” enlisted among the 10,000 “Crew 52” volunteers greeting Super Bowl LII visitors.McCormick’s 16-year-old son just got his driver’s license. After a recent storm, she figured it was the perfect time to let him break out for a solo drive – to the ice rink – because there were virtually no other vehicles on the Continue Reading

By Miriam Velasquez | [email protected] | Daily News PUBLISHED: January 16, 2018 at 11:06 am | UPDATED: January 17, 2018 at 3:07 pm When the Northridge earthquake struck at 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, it left much of the city in ruins with buildings and freeways collapsed. When the dust settled, 57 people had died — including 33 from fallen buildings. Of those, 16 were killed when the 164-unit Northridge Meadows apartments collapsed. The 6.7 magnitude quake was one of the most costly disasters in U.S. history. On the 24th anniversary of the quake, we look back at this defining moment in San Fernando Valley history. In this 1994 file photo, fire and rescue vehicles fill the street in front of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex as the grim search for victims goes on inside. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)Los Angeles city limit sign on the 5 Freeway. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) SoundThe gallery will resume insecondsPage one of the Los Angeles Daily News on January 18, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994.Firefighters work to free trapped residents at the Northridge Meadows Apartments on Reseda Blvd in Northridge CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News File Photo)A Fire Department chaplain speaks to a couple at the collapsed Northridge Meadows apartment building. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)The wreckage of a truck driven by Jimmy Menzi rests in the middle of Balboa Blvd. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)A couple leaves an outdoor emergency facility at Granada Hills Community Hospital after receiving treatment on the morning of the earthquake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily Continue Reading

By Miriam Velasquez | [email protected] | Daily NewsJanuary 16, 2018 at 11:06 am When the Northridge earthquake struck at 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, it left much of the city in ruins with buildings and freeways collapsed. When the dust settled, 57 people had died — including 33 from fallen buildings. Of those, 16 were killed when the 164-unit Northridge Meadows apartments collapsed. The 6.7 magnitude quake was one of the most costly disasters in U.S. history. On the 24th anniversary of the quake, we look back at this defining moment in San Fernando Valley history. In this 1994 file photo, fire and rescue vehicles fill the street in front of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex as the grim search for victims goes on inside. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)Los Angeles city limit sign on the 5 Freeway. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)Page one of the Los Angeles Daily News on January 18, 1994. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994.Firefighters work to free trapped residents at the Northridge Meadows Apartments on Reseda Blvd in Northridge CA. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News File Photo)A Fire Department chaplain speaks to a couple at the collapsed Northridge Meadows apartment building. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)The wreckage of a truck driven by Jimmy Menzi rests in the middle of Balboa Blvd. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)A couple leaves an outdoor emergency facility at Granada Hills Community Hospital after receiving treatment on the morning of the earthquake. The Northridge quake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)LAPD officer Roger Ruggiero climbs to the top of the Antelope Valley Freeway Continue Reading

Published 12:07 am, Saturday, January 6, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-3', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 3', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Pam Panchak, AP Image 1of/3 CaptionClose Image 1 of 3 This photo taken Dec. 30, 2017, shows Sybil Epstein, right, reaching out to touch the Torah as Sam Bernstein pushes Larry Buntman, carrying the Torah, around the congregation during the final Shabbat service at Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle, Pa. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) less This photo taken Dec. 30, 2017, shows Sybil Epstein, right, reaching out to touch the Torah as Sam Bernstein pushes Larry Buntman, carrying the Torah, around the congregation during the final Shabbat service at ... more Photo: Pam Panchak, AP Image 2 of 3 This photo taken Dec. 30, 2017, shows Rabbi Howie Stein leading the final Shabbat service at Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle, Pa. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) This photo taken Dec. 30, 2017, shows Rabbi Howie Stein leading the final Shabbat service at Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle, Pa. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP) Photo: Pam Panchak, AP Image 3 of 3 Pennsylvania synagogue has last service, but legacy endures 1 / 3 Back to Gallery NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) — They gathered for one last Shabbat service, one last reading from the Torah, one last sermon and one last luncheon preceded by a kiddush or prayer over bread and wine. With that, Temple Hadar Israel in this Lawrence County city held its last weekly service, bringing an end to nearly a century and a quarter of synagogue Judaism in this Continue Reading

Updated 10:56 am, Thursday, January 4, 2018 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on U.S. attorneys in California (all times local): 11 a.m. The top federal prosecutor in Northern California is stepping down. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Northern California, Abraham Simmons, said Thursday U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch's last day is on Saturday. Stretch was appointed U.S. attorney in 2016 for a region that includes the San Francisco Bay Area. It's not uncommon for U.S. attorneys to step down under a new president. An announcement by the law firm Sidley Austin says Stretch will join the firm's San Francisco office as a partner in its white collar, government litigation and investigations practice. Stretch's decision allows Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint an interim U.S. attorney just as he announced he was rescinding an Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in California and other states. Sessions said Thursday the new stance will let federal prosecutors where marijuana is legal decide how aggressively to enforce longstanding federal law prohibiting it. LATEST SFGATE VIDEOS Now Playing: Now Playing A beginner's guide to recreational marijuana sfgate 300 people plunge into Ocean Beach sfgate How big waves find Bay Area beaches sfgate What are 'Spare the Air' days? sfgate Santa Clara cardboard factory fire sfgate Beautiful Yosemite sfgate Randy+Bennett+discusses+St.+Mary%E2%80%99s+rout+of+LMU+in+the+WCC+opener. SFGate Opening day for legal marijuana sales in Humboldt sfgate Commuters sound off on the large pigeon population at Powell St. BART sfgate SF's Boxing Room makes New Orleans cocktails sfgate ___ 7:15 a.m. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has named former prosecutor Nicola Hanna as the interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a broad area that includes Los Angeles and six other counties. Hanna, partner at the international Continue Reading

On May 2 President George W. Bush zoomed off the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, where he had declared victory in Iraq following a televised landing in a US Navy S-3B Viking jet. A few hours later, Bush landed in California’s Silicon Valley, where he abruptly changed the topic of the day from triumphant war to sputtering economy. Mindful of the slowdown in what was once a high-tech symbol of US economic might, Bush’s handlers carefully chose his stop in Santa Clara. The President avoided the traditional walk-through at Intel, Cisco Systems or Apple. Instead, as reported by David Sanger of the New York Times, Bush “pulled into the well-protected grounds of United Defense Industries, which produces the Bradley fighting vehicle, tanks and other equipment that became familiar to television viewers watching the 350-mile race to Baghdad last month.” There, standing before an array of weapons used in Iraq, Bush made his stand for a $550 billion tax cut that Republicans pray will revive investment, cut the deficit and bring back thousands of jobs lost over the past eighteen months. He thanked the assembled United Defense workers for their products, especially the Bradleys, which he boasted “were responsible for a lot of tank kills” in Iraq. But Sanger, along with every other reporter covering the speech, neglected to mention a crucial fact about United Defense. It is majority-owned and controlled by the Carlyle Group, the Washington, DC, merchant bank in which Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, has a direct financial interest and serves as a trusted adviser. Yet the American public was kept in the dark about this relationship by the newspaper of record, along with the Washington Post, CNN and every other major media outlet. To people who follow these things, the silence was deafening. “It’s not irony anymore; its just shameless and brazen,” said Dan Briody, a New York journalist who broke one of Continue Reading